The Detroit Tigers community mourned the loss this week of former slugger and fan favorite Rocky Colavito, who died Tuesday at the age of 91 after a lengthy illness.
Colavito spent four years during the early 1960s as the Tigers' cleanup hitter, slugging 139 home runs and racking up 430 RBI. A nine-time MLB All-Star, Colavito spent the majority of his 14-year MLB career with the Cleveland Indians, but he hit a career-high 41 home runs while playing for Detroit in 1961.
During that brief stint in Detroit, Colavito was a two-time All-Star and received MVP votes in both 1961 and 1962 as he racked up 13.3 WAR (coincidentally, the two best defensive campaigns of his career).
In more positive Tigers news, Detroit pitching coach Chris Fetter was named the 2024 MLB Coach of the Year by Baseball America Wednesday. Under Fetter's leadership, the Tigers ranked fourth among the 30 MLB teams with a 3.63 ERA in 2024.
Fetter certainly deserves his flowers after helping the Tigers navigate the challenges of a two-man starting rotation in 2024 and working with manager AJ Hinch to deploy an effective opener-bulk reliever strategy that propelled Detroit to its first postseason appearance since 2014. Of course, it also doesn't hurt that Fetter helped coach Tarik Skubal to an American League Cy Young Award-winning campaign in 2024.
Tigers signing No. 4 prospect in 2025 international class could hurt their chances of landing Roki Sasaki
The Tigers are signing Dominican outfielder Cris Rodriguez, the No. 4 prospect in the 2025 international class, with a signing bonus expected to be north of $3 million, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. At 16 years old, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound outfielder is the top-ranked power bat in the class according to MLB Pipeline.
Detroit has also expressed interest in signing the No. 1 prospect in the class, coveted Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki. However, the Tigers are beginning with $7,555,500 in international bonus pool money; if more than $3 million of that is already allocated to Rodriguez, it effectively destroys their chances of winning in a bidding war for Sasaki unless they trade for more international bonus pool space.
Perhaps the opportunity to work with one of baseball's best pitching coaches in Fetter would be enough to woo Sasaki to the Tigers at a significant discount? (Just kidding; it definitely won't.)
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